I Don't Love You
by reflect.clouds
Summary: Layla reflects back on her broken relationship with Will and her love for some one else... Songfic. Based on the song 'I don't love you' by MCR.
1. Layla

Well when you go  
Don't ever think I'll make you try to stay  
And maybe when you get back  
I'll be off to find another way

Layla curled up under her bed, knees hugged tight to her chest, eyes glazed as she thought back over the past two years. Next to her was the scrapbook, the one she had made with Will back when everything was alright. Will. To her, his name was all the frustration, the tears, the fights and the heartbreak that had been her life for the past year. Only one knew just how bad it was, though even Zach could see the tension. The tension that was always there, hanging over them, reminding them of just how messed up they were.__

When after all this time that you still owe  
You're still a good-for-nothing I don't know  


Slowly, she flipped through the scrapbook. Her and Will, Zach and Magenta, even Warren and Jenny Freeze, from the month that that relationship lasted. Her throat caught as she saw the picture on the last page. It was from the night in their freshman year, the night they defeated Royal Pain. Zach and Magenta stood to one side with Ethan, all giving the peace sign at the camera. Will had his arm around Layla, and she was smiling like this was the happiest moment of her life. Little did Freshman Layla know that it would be.

_So take your gloves and get out  
Better get out  
While you can  
_

Next to her was Warren. He stood a bit behind her, shadows giving him dark hollows and razor sharp features. She could have done it them, have told him, and then none of this would ever had happened. _Oh God, forgive me_, she whispered. _Please God._

_Warren._

_Will._

_Warren._

_Will…_

_When you go  
Would you even turn to say  
"I don't love you   
Like I did  
Yesterday"  
_

She didn't love Will, didn't want to be near him, with him, part of him. She wanted to forget what she couldn't forget, that fateful night at homecoming. She had agreed to go with Warren to make Will jealous. Back when she cared. But now everything had changed, when she had realised just how amazing those moments with Warren had been. Jenny Freeze, after the break-up, had told Layla how lucky she was. "He only ever smiled at you…"

_  
Sometimes I cry so hard from pleading  
So sick and tired of all the needless beating  
But baby when they knock you  
Down and out  
Is where you oughta stay _

She'd laughed it off, just like she'd laughed off every silent suggestion, every smile and comment. Will had been the one for her: he was her dream come true, her greatest ambition. Warren had once called it love. Layla had been sure of that, but sometimes you can't see the truth because you're too in love with the lie.__

When after all the blood that you still owe  
Another dollar's just another blow  
So fix your eyes and get up  
Better get up  
While you can  


She wanted to rebuild her life. A new life, free of the pain of yesterday and the dreading of tomorrow. She wanted to be the woman she had dreamed about ever since first grade: the confident, self-assured woman who could do anything, save the rainforests and promote equality. That was still her dream of course, but somehow she didn't think it would work out quite the way she had hoped.

_  
When you go  
Would you even turn to say  
"Hey...I don't love you  
Like I did  
Yesterday" _

Warren was so not her type. Layla wanted to be strong and righteous, to save the world, rainforest and ozone layer. In a man, she looked for the same qualities. Whenever she pictured herself in the future, she saw a picture perfect scene. She saw the white house with the picket fence that you see in adverts, she cooking inside while her husband stood beside her. She wanted a man who was considerate and kind, supportive and comforting. Warren was hardly ideal. But then…__

Well come on, come on

All the times he had smiled at her, during their plan in freshman year. The first night in the Paper Lantern, when he had listened to her babble on about her problems, even though she was his worst enemy's best friend. He had always listened, whenever she needed to talk or to cry, she had gone to the Paper Lantern during his shift. She missed him when he went to China for a week, missed his quiet smiles and his dark attitude. She had wanted him back.

_  
When you go  
Would you have the guts to say  
"I don't love you  
Like I loved you  
Yesterday...hey...hey" _

The doorbell rang. Layla waited for a few seconds before she remembered she was home alone. Pulling herself from under the bed, she wiped her tears on her green t-shirt as she went downstairs. She hoped it wasn't Will, wanting to 'talk' about their shattered relationship. She didn't want to talk about them, about all the things that she had done. She wanted to be silent.__

I don't love you  
Like I loved you  
Yesterday...hey...hey 

The door bell rang again. With a sigh Layla took another step towards it. She didn't want more negociations, trying to figure out a way to turn her life around. She just wanted to cry on Warren's shoulder like she had done so many times before. Through the door pane, she saw a shadowed blur, tall and dark, the outline strong. Her heart began to pound. She knew that shadow.__

I don't love you   
Like I loved you  
Yesterdaaayyyyy

Layla Williams opened the door with a smile.

"Hi Warren…"


	2. Warren

**I didn't plan on doing a sequel but somehow I found myself writing one anyway. This isn't technically a sequel, it's just the same story from Warren's point of view. I really hope you enjoy it - it's written to 'Sleep' by My Chemical Romance. It's dedicated to the people who asked for a sequel and finally got their wish:**

**Fira, Bradhadair fire starter, Sarite.93, beyondthewardrobe, FlurryDivider, Tinuel, xpinkittyx**

**Thank you all and please review!!!!**

* * *

He hated her road, the long path to her house that wound through tall, dark and crooked trees. He hated the dead branches, their spiky, thin fingers straining to reach the sky, so delicate a gust of wind could break them. At least that was what he saw; their branches quivering and shaking like broken bones in the winter, black leaves like burnt flags. Layla, ever the optimist, loved them. She loved all of nature, broken or burnt. Walking alone through the shadows, Warren could only feel the despair, the hopelessness that the branches seemed to be filled with. They drooped like they had given up, their dangling ends stretching towards him like they wanted him to give up too. Maybe he should.

_Some say__ now suffer all the children_

_And walk away a __savior_

_Or a madman and polluted_

_From gutter institutions._

Maybe he was a fool to come, more so to return every time. Maybe if he didn't come then the pain would stop, that dull ache in his chest like a burning coal was caught between his ribs, tightening painfully when he least expected it.

_Don't you breathe for me,_

_Undeserving of your sympathy,_

_Cause there __ain't__ no way that I'm sorry for what I did._

It hurt like hell when he saw her with him, when he saw her cry, when he saw her in pain. But it hurt more when he saw that _empty _look that had started to fill her eyes every time she looked at Will, when she thought no one was looking. Like she didn't feel anymore.

_And through it all_

_How could you cry for me?_

_C__ause I don't feel bad about it._

_S__o shut your eyes,_

_Kiss me goodbye,_

But she did feel. Warren knew that, maybe more than even she did. He could see her pain – hell, even Zach could sense something was wrong. Maybe Will wouldn't admit it but everyone could see it. Then again, Will was never one to spot the unseen. Layla denied it for different reasons; she wanted to spare Will the pain. So she would put herself through it, bearing his pain with an empty smile.

_And sleep._

_J__ust sleep._

_Th__e hardest part is letting go of y__our dreams._

Warren had never deserved her, he knew that. She was too beautiful, too clever, too good a person to want someone like him. Hell, she was even richer than him – he could see her house now, the large, white building covered in ivy and other plants. He was just some punk off the local estate with a bad job and a long record of misbehaviour. He couldn't stop hoping though and that was the worst part. Every time he saw her he had to tell himself he wasn't good enough, would never be good enough. But it was so damn hard.

_A drink for the horror that I'm in,_

_For the good guys, and the bad guys,_

_For the monsters that I've been._

He had tried other girls, tried to forget her. But every time he saw her, saw her smile at him, her eyes sparkling, he couldn't think of anything else. His one-time girlfriend Jenny Freeze had seen it, had ended it before she got hurt. She had always been the clever one, leaving before it got too hard.

_Three cheers for tyranny,_

_Unapologetic apathy,_

_Cause there __ain't__ no way that I'm coming back again._

He kept coming back for more, because somehow just being near her could take the pain away. When she was there he couldn't be sad, couldn't help smiling, even though he knew he would never have what he wanted. Being without her was torture. She was his drug, his air, his lifeline.

_And through it all_

_How could you cry for me?_

_Cause I don't feel bad about it._

_So shut your eyes, _

_Kiss me goodbye,_

Burning things helped. Some nights he stay up late, driving far out until he reached the empty building sites on the outskirts. He'd sit there for hours, just staring into the glowing embers, their flames dancing tantalisingly. With nothing there but the wind, the stars and the ghosts of buildings, he didn't feel anything. He was the flame and all he could see was her, standing before him like she'd been there all along. Which, in a way, she had.

_And sleep._

_Just sleep._

_The hardest parts_

_The awful things that I've seen._

The way she talked, her glossy hair, her dancing eyes, her beautiful smile. She was so perfect. Will was so damn lucky and he didn't even know what he had. Seeing her used to be enough but he didn't now how long he could bear it, even though he had no choice. She chose Will. She chose Will. She chose him and she always would, even after everything. He was her 'love'.

Warren had held her when she cried, held her shaking body and sworn to kill the one that made her hurt inside so badly. But who could kill his best friend? Her red hair spread across his arms, her vulnerable silence. He wanted to stay like that forever, knew that was where they belonged. She could be silent and it wasn't silence, because even her silence spoke volumes.

_Just sleep._

_Just sleep._

She always went back to him. Always. Even though sooner or later she'd be in Warren's arms again, sobbing quietly, all too soon she'd return to Will like she was the one who'd done wrong. When Warren had gone to China he couldn't stay still, couldn't sleep for worry about her. He was scared of what would happen the day when she finally cracked. If he wasn't there to hold her while she cried, he would never forgive himself.

_Just sleep._

_Just sleep. _

_Just sleep._

She shouldn't feel pain. People like Warren knew pain, felt it, deserved it. It was part of his life and he accepted it like an old warrior accepts death. He could not expect better. But Layla, she deserved so much more. He wanted to make her smile, to never see her cry again. He used to think he could be content with 'best friend' but he knew now that could never work.

_Just sleep._

This was the last time he would visit her. This would be the last time because he couldn't live like this, so close and yet so far. He couldn't go on with this searing pain inside, without her. So he had to leave her, even though every instinct told him to stay and protect her. He could live without her. He had to. He had no choice.

He rang the doorbell and waited patiently as she ran down stairs, her green form topped with tumbling red hair. He knew she had been crying already without even having to ask. He knew because he felt her pain like it was his own. The door opened and she was there, all red locks and glowing green eyes that shone with tears. And the smile that was on her face broke his heart all over again and he knew he could never, never leave her. He loved Layla, loved her so much that living without her was no longer an option. She was his future and he was bound to her, if only to see her smile so sadly and yet so hopefully. It broke his heart and healed it in one moment and he knew that he would keep going because he had too. She opened her mouth to greet him.

"Hi, Warren."

And Warren Peace smiled.


End file.
